GOP Primary Megathread III: Third Time's A Charm

[The Black Forrest]

He said something along the lines of "how many times can the same people ask us the same questions?"

Here's the source, by the way: http://www.mediaite.com/election-2016/r ... pulls-out/

That's a good question. Maybe if the media actually did their jobs correctly, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in right now.

Damn those liberals!

Bias I tell you!

[Lady Scylla]

Outrage, outrage, yeah, yeah, but, to be fair, Clinton's the one who decided to bark on live tv.

Isn't it the GOP that usually loves to squeal about taking things out of context?

They're a bit busy trying to save their ship from sinking. There was a BBC article with a humorous title I read a few weeks ago called "Day one of the Republican Civil War". With rumours of a brokered convention, and Republicans saying they won't support Trump, it's funny watching the party start to strain at the seams. Meanwhile, good old Trump has pretty much issued a threat.

"I'm representing a tremendous - many, many millions of people, in many cases first-time voters," Mr Trump, the front-runner, told CNN. "If you disenfranchise those people ... I think you would have problems like you've never seen before," he said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-35825484

[Eastern Equestria]

Has this been pointed yet?
Because this happened.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/pre ... the-voters

"The media has created the perception that the voters will decide the nomination," Curly Haugland said in an interview with CNBC. "That's the conflict here."


"The political parties choose their nominees, not the general public, contrary to popular belief," he added.
Haugland was then asked what the point of holding primaries is if the party can disregard the will of the voters.

"That's a very good question," he responded.

He's right. This is how Presidential elections in the United States have always been. Citizens don't vote for candidates directly, they vote for their state and party representatives to vote for candidates on their behalf. Said representatives have followed the whims of the voters in virtually every instance, but aren't actually obliged to. The Founding Fathers designed the election process this way exactly because they feared a more direct process would do nothing to stop fiendish demagogues like Donald Trump.

Really, Donald?

I don't see what the problem is. It's not a serious attack ad (he posted it on Instagram, of all places). And it was kinda funny.

[USS Monitor]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-riots-nomination_us_56e956fae4b0b25c9183e915

I will say this: A stupid man would overtly threaten the GOP with violence. It is the sign of a somewhat clever monster that Trump uses just the right words so everyone can tell he's threatening and inciting violence, but nobody can actually accuse him of incitement to violence or intimidation.

I love the editor's note on that article.

HuffPost seems to put that on all their articles about Trump. I have seen it before.

[Romalae]

Trump presidency rated among the top 10 global risks.

Donald Trump winning the US presidency is considered one of the top 10 risks facing the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The research firm warns he could disrupt the global economy and heighten political and security risks in the US.

However, it does not expect Mr Trump to defeat Hillary Clinton who it sees as "his most likely Democratic contender".

He is rated as riskier than Britain leaving the European Union or an armed clash in the South China Sea.

Lol. I betcha this will only make him stronger among his supporters.

[USS Monitor]

So apparently Trump has decided that he is done with the debates. There was one scheduled in Utah next week, and Trump pulled out. Upon hearing this news, Kasich pulled out too so the gig was cancelled.

Why'd Kasich pull out? I am confused by some of the stuff he does.

[Eastern Equestria]

I don't know if anybody here has posted or seen this yet, but these Taiwanese animators have a pretty funny take on latest US election news.

[Romalae]

So apparently Trump has decided that he is done with the debates. There was one scheduled in Utah next week, and Trump pulled out. Upon hearing this news, Kasich pulled out too so the gig was cancelled.

Why'd Kasich pull out? I am confused by some of the stuff he does.

I guess his campaign wanted him to debate with Trump. As if that would actually help him.

[AiliailiA]

So apparently Trump has decided that he is done with the debates. There was one scheduled in Utah next week, and Trump pulled out. Upon hearing this news, Kasich pulled out too so the gig was cancelled.

Why'd Kasich pull out? I am confused by some of the stuff he does.

You'd expect Cruz to be the second to pull out. Maybe he was just asleep or something.

[USS Monitor]

I don't know if anybody here has posted or seen this yet, but these Taiwanese animators have a pretty funny take on latest US election news.

That's some weird shit.

[USS Monitor]

Why'd Kasich pull out? I am confused by some of the stuff he does.

You'd expect Cruz to be the second to pull out. Maybe he was just asleep or something.

You mean Ben Carson's sleeping sickness was contagious?

[Myrensis]

Why'd Kasich pull out? I am confused by some of the stuff he does.

I guess his campaign wanted him to debate with Trump. As if that would actually help him.

Kasich is positioning himself to be the establishment choice for whatever shenanigans they try at the convention to stop Trump, a one on one debate with Cruz isn't going to help him do that, or change the outcome of the primaries.

[Senkaku]

So apparently Trump has decided that he is done with the debates. There was one scheduled in Utah next week, and Trump pulled out. Upon hearing this news, Kasich pulled out too so the gig was cancelled.

Why'd Kasich pull out? I am confused by some of the stuff he does.

Probably because he didn't want to be alone on a stage with the Zodiac Killer.

I don't know if anybody here has posted or seen this yet, but these Taiwanese animators have a pretty funny take on latest US election news.

That's some weird shit.

I thought it was hilarious, although their animation of Kasich is pretty much unrecognizable.

[Eol Sha]

I don't know if anybody here has posted or seen this yet, but these Taiwanese animators have a pretty funny take on latest US election news.

Hahaha.

[AiliailiA]

I guess his campaign wanted him to debate with Trump. As if that would actually help him.

Kasich is positioning himself to be the establishment choice for whatever shenanigans they try at the convention to stop Trump, a one on one debate with Cruz isn't going to help him do that, or change the outcome of the primaries.

For that to work he needs to help keep Trump's delegate count down. The 'shenanigans' required to beat an outright Trump majority are really sketchy. Unthinkable even.

In a sense, he doesn't want to fight Cruz for delegates, because every delegate Cruz wins is one Trump doesn't.

There's another problem though. The current rules require that the nominee has to have come first in at least 8 states, which looks unlikely for Kasich. Part of the shenanigans would be a vote at the convention to change that rule.

Unless Kasich does really well and goes into the convention in second place, I really can't see him getting picked. The furthest the dodgy strategy can go without being crazy brave is to promote the second place getter, which I expect to be Cruz.

[Myrensis]

Kasich is positioning himself to be the establishment choice for whatever shenanigans they try at the convention to stop Trump, a one on one debate with Cruz isn't going to help him do that, or change the outcome of the primaries.

For that to work he needs to help keep Trump's delegate count down. The 'shenanigans' required to beat an outright Trump majority are really sketchy. Unthinkable even.

In a sense, he doesn't want to fight Cruz for delegates, because every delegate Cruz wins is one Trump doesn't.

There's another problem though. The current rules require that the nominee has to have come first in at least 8 states, which looks unlikely for Kasich. Part of the shenanigans would be a vote at the convention to change that rule.

Unless Kasich does really well and goes into the convention in second place, I really can't see him getting picked. The furthest the dodgy strategy can go without being crazy brave is to promote the second place getter, which I expect to be Cruz.

Curious isn't it, how there hasn't been a great rush to rally the party behind Cruz?

Not necessarily directed at you, but it does kind of amuse me how frequently in this thread people suggest that Cruz would obviously be the preferred choice over Trump for the party, as though bitter and not particularly discrete back biting and feuding hasn't been a major feature of his relationship with the party establishment for years.

Narcissistic Self-Promoting Con Man, or Power Hungry Ruthless Grasper, both likely to view the party as entirely expendable if it's in the way of what they want, both likely to do lasting damage to the brand. Given a choice between Trump and Cruz, they may very well opt for crazy brave.

[Zurkerx]

I don't know if anybody here has posted or seen this yet, but these Taiwanese animators have a pretty funny take on latest US election news.

What in the hell did I just watch?!

[Maineiacs]

I don't know if anybody here has posted or seen this yet, but these Taiwanese animators have a pretty funny take on latest US election news.

What in the hell did I just watch?!

Something with a far more mature and reasoned tone than the actual campaign.

[Ashmoria]

Really, Donald?

Outrage, outrage, yeah, yeah, but, to be fair, Clinton's the one who decided to bark on live tv.

and people wonder why she isn't spontaneous.

[Zurkerx]

What in the hell did I just watch?!

Something with a far more mature and reasoned tone than the actual campaign.

That I can't argue.

[Uxupox]

What in the hell did I just watch?!

Something with a far more mature and reasoned tone than the actual campaign.

Pretty much spot on everything. Loved the bit about reddit though.

[Trumpostan]

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll 50% of US women view Trump "very unfavorable". Hispanics (as per a february WaPo poll) have him 80% unfavorable. By far the lowest of any candidate still running.

Also, all candidates ever winning their party nomination with less than 40% of the party vote, suffered a blowout general election defeat.

Perhaps the Donald is really helping to make America great again, by demolishing what was left of the GOP's reputation helping it to a much greater defeat than should be possible in today's hyper partisan environment.

Of course a poll is no election, but who ever overcame such dire unfavorables? He's even making Hillary somewhat likeable by comparison and who'd thunk that possible a year ago?

[Romalae]

Whoa, Lindsey Graham endorses Ted Cruz.

Didn't see that coming. Maybe I should've, though, given that I guess the establishment hatred for Cruz is slightly less than the hatred for Trump.

[Diopolis]

Whoa, Lindsey Graham endorses Ted Cruz.

Didn't see that coming. Maybe I should've, though, given that I guess the establishment hatred for Cruz is slightly less than the hatred for Trump.

It's better the devil you know plus a calculation that Cruz won't try to take out the whole party if he loses the general.

[Romalae]

Whoa, Lindsey Graham endorses Ted Cruz.

Didn't see that coming. Maybe I should've, though, given that I guess the establishment hatred for Cruz is slightly less than the hatred for Trump.

It's better the devil you know plus a calculation that Cruz won't try to take out the whole party if he loses the general.

All I can say for sure is that if more establishment figures like Graham start to come out begrudgingly for Cruz over Trump, Kasich should drop immediately. It signals that even though they almost certainly prefer Kasich to Cruz, they accept that there's not even a remote chance that he will win. As a result, Kasich is only pulling votes away from the establishment choice, and that is particularly dangerous when many of the remaining states are winner-take-all or winner-take-most.

Keeping it real, I mean I voted for Kasich in the Texas primary (just like you did) but he ought to leave as soon as possible given current strategy.